Frank Gore's ankle injury causes San Francisco 49ers little concern

San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore (21) tries to outrun Washington Redskins strong safety LaRon Landry in the first half of an NFL football game in Landover, Md., Sunday, Nov. 6, 2011. San Francisco won 19-11. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Gore emerged from a 19-11 victory over the Washington Redskins on Sunday with a bothersome ankle, though it wasn't enough to slow him in his march toward a fifth straight 100-yard game rushing.

"I'll be all right," said Gore, who rushed for 107 yards and is third in the league at 782. "I'm cool. Just checking up some things on my body. Yeah, I'll be all right."

Harbaugh said he isn't surprised that several of his players came away from the Redskins game banged up.

"That was a tough, physical game for everybody on our football team," Harbaugh said. "We knew it was going to be that way going in, and it played out that way."

Gore appeared far more comfortable discussing the prospect of playing for a playoff-bound team than his health. He is one of numerous players on the 49ers' 53-man roster who have yet to experience a winning season, let alone a trip to the NFC playoffs.

The 49ers hold a commanding five-game lead in the NFC West at the midpoint of the season. It's conceivable that they could clinch the division title well before December.

"That would be a big thing," defensive lineman Ricky Jean Francois said. "Our goal, we're trying not to let another team have to help us get to the playoffs. ... We're trying to secure a playoff spot now, so we don't have to worry about that later in the season."

Advertisement

Harbaugh's team has the second-best record in the NFL through eight games, yet he isn't saying whether the 49ers have matched or exceeded his expectations.

"I really don't assess it," Harbaugh said of the halfway mark. "We would have liked to have been 8-0 at the midseason point."

The 49ers are a play away from being undefeated. Their lone loss came in overtime against the Dallas Cowboys in a game in which they led by 10.

Jean Francois said he envisioned the 49ers being this good, even if few others did.

"A lot of people doubted us," he said. "A lot of people put us out because we didn't have an offseason, we had a whole new staff, we're going to be lost and running around with our heads cut off."

Defensive end Ray McDonald said his injured hamstring has healed to the point where he is "good to go" this week.

McDonald suffered his injury against the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 30. He missed his first game Sunday.

Rookie fullback Bruce Miller caught a pass for a 30-yard touchdown against the Redskins. Running backs coach Tom Rathman doles out a perfect "4" to Miller on the play.

Miller's lone flaw was giving the ball to the official after his first NFL touchdown, Rathman said. Fortunately for Miller, a member of the 49ers equipment staff retrieved the ball and gave it to Miller.

"I didn't know what to do with it," Miller said. "I just handed it back to the referee."

That ball was in Miller's locker Monday. Soon, it will be in his parents' home in Atlanta, Miller said.

Harbaugh joined Jim Mora as the only rookie coaches since 1970 to guide their teams to a five-game improvement from the previous season within the first eight games.

The 49ers were 2-6 at this point last season. They are 7-1 this season. Mora guided the 2004 Atlanta Falcons to a 6-2 midseason record one season after the Falcons started 1-7.

The 49ers have allowed a league-low 118 points. The Baltimore Ravens are next at 130.

Harbaugh took his players to Arlington National Cemetery the day before the Redskins game.

"I just thought it would be neat for the fellas and myself, the team, and we were practicing very near there ... " Harbaugh said. "Our guys were really moved. They really appreciated what they were witnessing, what they were able to be a part of. It was a good, positive thing for us."